Live Nation records best ever Q3 as revenue reaches £2.8bn

Live Nation attracted almost 30 million fans to shows globally from June to September, as the company remains on track to deliver another year of record results.

Revenue was up 12% to $3.6 billion (£2.8bn) for the quarter, operating income was up 5% to $201 million ($154m) and AOI (adjusted operating income) was up 10% to $335m ($257m), reports Music Week.

The promoting giant enjoyed its best Q3 ever, and has sold more than 80 million tickets for concerts so far in 2017, a rise of 20% year-on-year. Q3 saw a 16% increase in attendance to 65m fans at 20,000 shows in 40 countries.

"As we approach the end of 2017, we are confident that our strong performance will deliver another year of record top line, operating income and AOI," said Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino. "All of our businesses - concerts, advertising and ticketing - have delivered growth for the nine months, and based on their key operating metrics, we currently expect each to deliver record revenue, operating income and AOI for the full year.

"As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue global consolidation of our concerts and ticketing businesses, and for further growth in advertising and ticketing from the concerts flywheel."

Rapino said the firm would spend more than $5bn (£3.8bn) producing concerts this year. Elsewhere, its sponsorship business continued its double-digit growth this year, with revenue up 20%, operating income up 13% and AOI up 15% for the nine months which, again, is a company record. Festival sponsorship revenue is up 20%.

Ticketmaster's Verified Fan scheme has driven a 90% reduction in the number of tickets ending up on the secondary market. It has now over 60 artists and Broadway shows, including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Hamilton and Bruce Springsteen on Broadway.

WORLD: The UK Competition Commission has given its blessing to a deal that would create the world's "premiere" live entertainment company. Although both promoter Live Nation and ticket sales company Ticketmaster are based in the US, the latter's long-term majority stake of the British live music market means the merger requires UK clearance.